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by Bruce Maulden

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Chuck that Steak

September 17, 2013

Drizzling rain this way-early Tuesday on California’s north coast, and the weather matches the mood.

Horror once again yesterday via another gun massacre at DC’s Washington Navy Yard — 12 dead and eight wounded. And not a motive in gun-sight, beyond some guy armed to the teeth and pissed about something. The nightmare shits: The successful recall elections last week of two Colorado lawmakers who backed new gun restrictions sent a shiver through the gun-control lobby.

Just in time, though, most-likely will be swept under the rug — a new study published last week reports that when you have a shitload of guns around, there’s a shitload of homicides, despite the NRA’s best intentions. Guns kill bunch more:

Covering 30 years (1981-2010) in all 50 states, the report shows a “robust correlation” between estimated levels of gun ownership and actual gun homicides at the state level, even when controlling for factors typically associated with homicides. For each 1 percentage point increase in the prevalence of gun ownership, the state firearm homicide rate increases by 0.9 percent, the authors found. … The regression model predicted that each 1 percentage point increase in gun ownership increases a state’s firearm homicide rate by 0.9 percent, translating into a 12.9 percent increase in the gun homicide rate for each one standard deviation increase in gun ownership. All other factors being equal, for example, the model predicts that if the gun ownership estimate for Mississippi were 58 percent (the average for all states), instead of 77 percent (the highest of all states), its firearm homicide rate would be 17 percent lower. The results of the research are consistent with previous studies that have demonstrated a correlation between higher levels of gun ownership and higher levels of firearm homicide.

Another bit of research, and another massacre. And way-ugly irony prevails — from Slate:

Tomorrow at 10, the Senate Judiciary Committee was supposed to hold a hearing on “Stand Your Ground” laws featuring testimony from Trayvon Martin’s mother, John “More Guns Less Crime” Lott, and a trio of congressman that, for maximum cable TV potential, included Rep. Louie Gohmert. But shortly after 6 p.m., on a day when the Senate was on a security lock-down due to the Navy Yard shooting, Sen. Dick Durbin’s office (and the office of would-be panelist Rep. Luis Gutierrez) announced that the hearing would be rescheduled. That’s right. The hearing inspired by one shooting has been bumped because of another shooting.

The hearing was set for this morning, but it’s gone like gun smoke in a high wind. In the deep, truthful-passionate wisdom of George Carlin, and those people who “..should be thrown screaming from a helicopter…” with their guns clutched to their bosom:

And speaking of mindless Hollywood cocksuckers, before Charlton Heston became President of these dickless lunatics in the NRA, they had a different guy. He’s still one of their major spokesman, and his name is Wayne LaPierre. Doesn’t that sound a bit fruitty to you? “Hi, I’m Wayne, I’m a gun person. Bang bang!” You know what this guy’s name ought to be? Biff Webster. Spud Crowley, a man’s name! Chuck Steak!

And in a couple of months, the one-year anniversary of Sandy Hook Elementary, and according to Slate‘s gun-death tally: It is likely that as of today, 9/17/2013, roughly 24,580 people have died from guns in the United States since the Newtown shootings.